Fine grind rock crusher



May 8, 1962 3,033,475

J. D. AULT FINE GRIND ROCK CRUSHER Filed May 6, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

JOHN D. AU LT y 8, 1962 J. D. AULT 3,033,475

' FINE GRIND ROCK CRUSHER Filed May 6. 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JOHN D. AULT BY Fig. 5

3,033,475 FiNE GRIND RQCK CRUSHER John D. Ault, 2553 Ferdinand, El ajon, Calif. Filed May 6, 1960, Ser. No. 27,373 9 Claims. (Cl. 241-155) The present invention relates generally to rock crushers and more particularly to a fine grind rock crusher.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a rock crusher having crushing members driven with a tetragonal orbital motion by eccentric weight-s, the crushing members being enclosed in'rigid cages through which rock particles fall by gravity, the machine being capable of producing extremely fine ground rock.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rock crusher in which the tetragonal orbital motion of the crushing members causes a shearing action against the walls of the cages and prevents the adherence of rock particles to the walls which might jam the machine if allowed to accumulate.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rock crusher in which the cages are adjustable to vary the clearance between the cage walls and the crushing met hers, so that the resultant particle size can be controlled.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rock crusher having a plurality of crushing members which operate in opposition so that the vibration is reduced to a minimum and stresses on the machine are minimized.

Finally, it is an object to provide a rock crusher of the aforementioned character which is simple and convenient to build and operate and which will give generally efficient and durableservice.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification, particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawings which form a material part of this disclosure, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is aside elevation view, partially sectioned, of the complete rock crusher;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the orbital motion of the crushing members;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view similar toYFIGURE 3, but showing the crushing members in a dilferent position;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic view of a multiple machine.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar or identical elements and portions throughout the specification and throughout the views of the drawings.

The basic structure of the rock crusher includes a frame 10 having a pair of upright end plates 12 connected by a cage assembly 14, the end plates having brackets 16 fixed to the lower corners on which are posts 18 supported infoot blocks 20 of any suitable type. The cage assembly 14 comprises an upper cage 22 and a lower cage 24, each being horizontally elongated and generally diarnond shaped in cross section with substantially equal sides. The upper cage 22 has upper wall plates 26 and lower wall plates 28 forming a hollow, four-sided casing, the upper edges of the upper wall plates being separated to form a longitudinal inlet throat 30, above which is mounted a hopper 32 to feed rock into the machine. The lower cage 24 is similar in construction and has up per wall plates 36 and lower wall plates 38, said upper wall plates having spaced upper edges which are connected to the spaced lower edges of lower wall plates 28 by a longitudinal transfer throat 40, formed byspaced,

I 3,h33,475 Patented May 8, 1962 0 her having a longitudinal'cylindrical bore 50 at each end of which is a bearing 52. Supported between the bearings 52 is a shaft 54 carrying an eccentric weight 56, preferably unitary therewith, the weight being rotatable within the bore 50.

In the lower cage 24 is another, similar crushing member 58 having a cylindrical bore 60 with bearings 62 at opposite ends thereof, and supported in said bearings is a shaft 64 carrying an accentric Weight 66. The eccentric weights 56 and 66 are in 180 degrees opposed phase relation, so that their effects are substantially balanced and vibration of the entire machine is reduced. 'Thehorizontally opposed edges of both crushing members 48 and 58 are cut off to provide clearance flats 68.

Adjacent one end of the frame Iii is a motor "Iii of any suitable type, said motor having a drive pulley 72 connected by a drive belt 74 to a driven pulley 76' carried on a lower shaft 78, which is rotatable in a trunnion 80 mounted on a support post 82. Also mounted on the support post 82 is a second trunnion 8i carrying an upper shaft 84 on which is a pulley 86, the lower shaft 78 having a similar pulley 88 coupled to pulley $6 by a belt 90, so that both shafts are driven together. The shafts 'Tiiand 84 are generally in axial alignment with the shafts 64 and 54,; respectively, and are connected thereto by double universal couplings 92 to accommodate movement of the crushing members, the end plates 12 having large clearance openings 93 through which shafts 64 and 54 pass. 7

For adjustment of the cage assembly 14, the upper and lower cages 22 and 24 are provided with laterally opposed pairs of lugs 94 spaced inwardly from the end plates 12, said lugs having slotted holes 96. The lugs 94 are held by bolts 98 passing through the end plates 12 and retained by nuts 100. To ensure accurate positioning and prevent displacement of the cage assembly 14, spacer blocks 1l2 are fitted between the cage wall plates and the bolts d8, said spacer blocks being clamped in place by said bolts. For additional rigidity, further lugs 104 are fixed to the side plates 42 and held by bolts 98 and nuts 190, spacer blocks 106 being inserted between said side plates and the bolts. Thus the two sides of the cage assembly 14 are laterally adjustable to vary the spacing therebetween and consequently vary the clearance of the crushing members 48 and 58, the amount of clearance controlling the motion of the crushing members and determining the ultimate size of the crushed rock particles. The spacer blocks 102 and 10-6 prevent outward lateral displacement of the cage structures and may be made in sets of various lengths for different cage positions, corresponding to required sizes of rock parti- -cles. By using specific spacer blocks, particle size is acresulting in simultaneously generated thrusts in opposite directions with a balancing action since the crushing mem- 3 bers are simultaneously thrown in opposite directions, as indicated in FEGURES 3 and 4.

With reference to FIGURE 2, it will be evident that the motion of each crushing member, although effectively a four sided orbit around shaft 64 and within thccage, the member being thrown against one side wall and then sliding along that side wall to strike the next adjacent wall, as indicated by the directional arrows, it is noteworthy that the course followed by a crushing member will be somewhat irregular in practice, varying considerably in response to the variation in speed and loading conditions and variation from a simple tetragonal orbit will result also from non-uniformity in hardness within the particular sample of rock being crushed. Each time a crushing member makes impact with a cage wall, the rock particles trapped therebetween are crushed and, upon retraction of the crushing member from this wall, the crushed particles are allowed to fall by gravity toward the transfer or outlet throat concerned. The clearance fiats 63 provide clearance for rock particles to drop past the sides of the crush ing members, the final fine ground rock 110 dropping from the outlet throat 46 to be collected in any suitable manner.

The orbital action of the crsuhing members 48 and 58 is important in several ways. The multiple crsuhing impacts in each stage provide maximum crushing effect in a minimum of space, while the inertia of the two members is easily balanced at all times'by the oposecl eccentric action, so minimizing vibration of the machineas a whole. Further the powerful shearing action of the crushing members sliding along the cage walls after impact provides a rolling and grinding action on the rock and keeps the particles in motion, thus preventing particles from adher-' ing to the walls and jamming the machine by prolonged building up of a layer of crushed rock. In other words, the shearingaction of the orbitally moving crushing members keeps the interior walls of the machine clean and the walls of the cage assembly 14 are substantially smooth to prevent any accumulation of rock particles in crevices or other deformations. This is in complete contrast to other types of rock crushcrs utilizing vibrating or oscillating jaws with grooves or teeth which merely crush the rock.

- The machine is capable of producing extremely. fine ground rock, on the order of to 65 mesh for example, depending on the setting of the cage assembly 14. It has been found in practice that very little heat is produced during operation, despite the friction of the shearing action, and materials such as sulphur can be handled without melting.

While the rock crusher may be constructed with two stages as illustrated, it will be evident that additional stages may be added. For example, pairs of cages may be provided in vertically stacked relation. Alternatively a single stage may be used where vibration is not undesirable and a suitable mounting can be arranged.

An example of a multiple cage machine is illustrated diagrammatically in FIGURE 6, which indicates the direction of motion of the various eccentric weights to minirnize vibration. This particular machine has a pair of cage assemblies 112 and 114, the left assembly 112 having an upper cage 116 and lower cage 118, while the right assembly 114 has an upper cage 12% and a lower cage 12].. The upper cage 116 contains a crushing member 124- with an eccentric weight 126, the lower cage 118 having a crushing member 128 with an eccentric weight 130. Similarly, the upper cage 12% has a crushing member 132 with an eccentric weight 134 and the lower cage 122 has a crushing member 136 with an eccentric weight 138.

in order to balance the inertial effect of the eccentric weights and reduce vibration and stresses to a minimum, the diagonally opposite eccentric weights are in 180 degree opposed phase relation and rotate in a common direction, one diagonal pair rotating in the opposite direction to the other pair and being oriented to balance the inertia of the weights. A suitable coupling means for driving the eccentric weights will be obvious to those versed in the art.

The operation of this invention will be clearly comprehended from a consideration of the foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof, taken in connection with the drawings and the above recited objects. It will be obvious that all said objects are amply achieved by this invention.

It is understood that minor variation from the form of the invention disclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the specification and drawings are to be considered as merely illustrativef I desire therefore to be limited only by the following claims.

1 claim: I

1. A rock crushers, comprising: a frame; a cage fixed to said frame and having fiat rigid walls and having a rock inlet in the upper portion thereof and a crushed rock outlet in the lower portion thereof; a crushing member mounted for generally free movement in said cage; said crushing member being substantially smaller than the interior of said cage and having flat crushing faces; means for adjusting the spacing between said flat walls of said cage and said flat faces of said crushing member; a rotatively driven eccentric weight mounted in said crushing member for rotation about an axis extending through said member; whereby said fiat faces of the crushing member are urged against said flat walls'of said cage in succession.

2. A rock crusher according to claim 1 wherein said crushing'member has working faces equal in number to said walls.

3. A rock crusher, comprising: a frame; a cage assembly in said frame including an upper cage and a lower cage having substantially flat, rigid walls; a rock inlet throat in the upper portion of said upper cage; a transfer throat interconnecting said upper and lower cages; a crushed rock outlet in the lower portionlof said lower cage; a crushing member in each of said cages; said crushing members being substantially smaller than the interior of their respective cages; an eccentric weight mounted in each of said crushing members for rotation about an axis extending through the member; and a motor operatively connected to rotate said eccentric weights, whereby said crushing members are urged against said walls in succession; said eccentric Weights being in constantly diametrically opposed phase relation to minimize vibration of the frame.

4. A rock crusher according to claim 3 wherein said cages are internally diamond shaped, and the horizontally opposed edges of said crushing members have substantially vertical, flat clearance faces.

5. A rock crusher according to claim 4- wherein both said cages and said crushing members take the form of right angled prisms with substantially diamond-shaped cross sections.

6. A rock crusher, comprising: a frame; a cage assembly in said frame including an upper cage and a lower cage having substantially flat, rigid walls; a rock inlet throat in the upper portion of said upper cage; a transfer throat interconnecting said upper and lower cages; a crushed rock outlet in the lower portion of said lower cage; a crushing member in each of said cages; said crushing members being substantially smaller than the interior of their respective cages; an eccentric weight mounted in each of said crushing members for rotation about an axis extending through the member; a motor operatively connected to rotate said eccentric weights, whereby said crushing members are urged against said walls in succession; said eccentric weights being in constantly diametrically opposed phase relation to minimize vibration of the frame; said cage assembly constituting a pair of spaced side elements; adjustable retaining means securing said cage assembly to said frame; said side elements being laterally adjustable to vary the spacing therebetween.-

seesaw 7. A rock crusher according to claim 6, wherein said retaining means includes outwardly extending, slotted lugs fixed to said cage assembly; bolts extending through said slotted lugs and secured to said frame; and interchangeable spacer blocks removably fitted between said bolts and said cage assembly to prevent outward displacement of the side elements.

8. A rock crusher, comprising: a frame; a plurality of longitudinally extending, imperforate walled cages fixed to said frame and each having a rock inlet and a rock outlet; said cages each being substantially diamond shaped in cross section; a crushing member in each of said cages; said crushing members being similar in cross section to but substantially smaller than the internal dimensions of the respective cages; each of said crushing members having an eccentric Weight mounted therein for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the member; a motor operatively connected to rotate said eccentric Weights, whereby said crushing members are urged in substantially tetragonal orbital motion within the respective cages; said eccentric weights being disposed to substantially balance each other as to the inertial effect thereof and to minimize vibration of the frame.

9. A rock crusher according to claim 8 wherein said cages comprise two laterally spaced similar, vertically stacked pairs; said eccentric Weights all being similar and each diagonally opposite pair of eccentric weights being in 180 degree opposed phase relation and rotatable in a common direction; and one diagonally opposite pair of eccentrie weights being driven in the opposite direction of rotation to that of the other pair of eccentric weights.

References titted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,297,391 Conradi a- Sept. 29, 1942 2,323,544 Kiesskalt iuly 6, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 660,635 Germany May 30, 1938 701,743 Germany Ian. 23, 1941 

